Voices of Wisdom: October 6, 2017

It seems that everywhere I turn these days for information and inspiration, the emphasis is on leadership. Books on leadership make up a sizable portion of the Christian non-fiction market. Blogs on the subject abound. A recent Facebook posts screams: “The church is desperate for good leaders.” No doubt that’s true; yet I submit to you that the church stands in greater need of good followers.

Recently, I asked some of our LifeWay Women trainers to answer two questions. The first one was, “Describe a rookie mistake you made when you were a new leader.” The list was not necessarily surprising, but there were several common threads I noticed. Here are a few of their responses:

“If you don’t want me to treat you like a child, don’t act like a child.” “Act your age, not your shoe size.” “Come on sweetie. You are ten years old. I should not have to remind you to brush your teeth.” “Son, you are in middle school. YES, you need to take a shower.”

You likely heard these phrases, or phrases like them, when you were a child. And if you are a parent, you have shared them with your kids. The phrases often come from a good place, a longing to nudge children beyond childhood, to prod the forsaking of childish ways. Good parents love their children, but they don’t want them to remain in perpetual childhood. They love them enough to nurture them and discipline them toward maturity, toward growing up.

I was recently talking to a neighbor about an ordinance being considered by our city council. She didn’t like it and felt strongly that it shouldn’t pass. She went on to make the case to me, raising several valid points I had not considered before.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in response to the 2015 San Bernardino attack.

We can say with some confidence that all the following are true: 1.a. When news of a tragedy reaches us, almost all of us find our thoughts overwhelmed for minutes, hours, or days, depending on the scope, severity, and vividness of the loss. This is called empathy—our ability to put ourselves in the place of others and imagine their suffering and fear, as well as heroism and courage, and to wonder how we would react in their place.

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About Selma

Selma Wilson is a wife, a mother, a grandmother, an advocate for moms, a cheerleader for marriages, a lover of Jesus, a family and marriage counselor/speaker, and the Chief People Officer at LifeWay Christian Resources. Read more about Selma.